Trends get a bad rap, mostly because they are often equated with fashions. Yet trends can be important, especially those long in the making. Today, we’re on the brink of a new digital paradigm, where the capabilities of our technology are beginning to outstrip our own. The IT industry is always in flux. Frequent new products and category innovation define and redefine the sector’s constantly shifting landscape. But lately we’ve seen even greater volatility than usual, their market shares are under siege from disruptive, often well-funded startups and other aggressive competitors.
Different aspects of the computing landscape are changing at the same time including communication, delivery platforms and collaboration channels. With the information technology sector, technological innovations are short- lived as they are frequently changing with time. Nothing lasts forever.
Consumerization of Information Technology
Technological innovation is actually driven by the consumer world. More mobile applications are increasingly being built for the purpose of mobile users but not for the replacement of computer applications. The days of monolithic suits are slowly fading away and are being taken over by applications meant specifically for mobile tablets and smart phones.
No-Touch Interfaces
We’ve gotten used to the idea that computers are machines that we operate with our hands. Every new iteration of technology has required new skills to use it proficiently. That’s why the new trend towards no-touch interfaces is so fundamentally different considering computers adapt to us rather than the other way around. Mobile applications are increasingly being used in marketing strategies such as mobile affiliate marketing.
Social media
The world is increasingly using social networking sites to stay in touch and communicate. The focus of enterprise marketing has now shifted to the use of social media for promotion of products and services. Organizations are now becoming social enterprises. Social media has provided a platform for business to directly access a global audience. Businesses are employing social media marketing due to its affordability compared to traditional marketing strategies. Social network is quickly shaping the direction of society and business.
Cloud computing
It is certainly one of the most sophisticated of the latest trends in information technology. Cloud computing provides services such as software, computation, data access and storage services without the end- user knowing the knowledge of the physical location and the configuration of the system that provides the service. It is especially effective in cutting running costs for business for data storage and other operation costs. Data- centers are now being down- sized to pave way for cloud storage. Cloud computing also has in- built scalability and elasticity features which can efficiently guide the growth of businesses.
Big data/ analytics and patterns
As companies continue to drown in unstructured data which they hardly access, innovations like the SLDF are being incorporated in order to manage data. There are different kinds of SLDF which include waterfall and the Agile Development Methodology. Some of the features of ADM include continuous integration of data, pair programming, offering spike solutions and refactoring. The waterfall is more traditional but is being fast replaced by the Agile Development Methodology systems. Other effective systems of data management include technologies such as in- line duplication, flash or solid- state drives and automated tiering of data.
Resource management
servers are being virtualized which benefits businesses in reducing work load management. Data centers are moving towards smaller sizes but with greater density for data storage, i.e. creation of infinite data centers. Virtualization enables the improvement of vertically scale data centers. Its use optimizes server performance hence creating more floor space and saving on energy. New scripting languages: They include Java and .NET. Some of the features and benefits of .NET include a fast turnaround time, a simpler AJAX implementation, and a single framework that handles a variety of operations. There is therefore no need for multiple frameworks from different vendors in order to perform different functionalities. It is also better funded thus, enabling new features to come out at the fastest pace possible. Some of the features integrated into the platform include LINQ, AJAX, the Unit Testing Framework, Performance Profiler, and Client Side Reporting among various other features. Java is quite similar to .NET in features and benefits.
Fabrics
This is the vertical integration of server systems, network and storage systems along with components that have element- level management software which lays the foundation that can optimize shared data resources effectively and dynamically.
The Web of Things
Lets end with probably the most pervasive trend is the Web of Things, where just about everything we interact with becomes a computable entity. Our homes, our cars and even objects on the street will interact with our smartphones and with each other, seamlessly.
What will drive the trend in the years to come are two complementary technologies: Near Field Communication (NFC), which allows for two-way data communication with nearby devices and ultra-low power chips that can harvest energy in the environment, which will put computable entities just about everywhere you can think of.
While the Web of Things is already underway, it’s difficult to see where it will lead us. Some applications, such as mobile payments and smart cities will become widespread in just a few years. Marketing will also be transformed, as consumers will be able to seamless access digital products from advertisements in the physical world.
Conclusion
Now, computers themselves are disappearing. They’re embedded invisibly into the Web of Things, into no-touch interfaces and into our daily lives. While we’ve long left behind loading disks into slots to get our computers to work and become used to software as a service – hardware as a service is right around the corner.
That’s why technology companies are becoming increasingly consumer driven, investing in things like native content to get us onboard their platform, from which we will sign onto massively online services to entertain and educate ourselves.
